JW Marriott Berlin Review
Details:
Duration of stay: 6 nights / vacation, family visit
Check-in / Check-out:
Check-in Process: 
Check-out Process:
Concierge Service: N/A
Staff @ Front Desk:
Bonvoy recognition:
At Check-in:
In General:
Posting of points & nights:
Room / Bathroom:
Bed, quality of sleep:
Bathroom, Shower: 
Room Atmosphere:
WiFi / Internet:
Housekeeping general:
Cleanliness:
Food & Beverage:
JW Steakhouse:
Quality of Food:
Atmosphere:
Staff:
The Market (Breakfast):
Quality of Food:
Atmosphere: see details below
see details below
Staff: see details below
see details below
Bar26:
Drinks & Snacks:
Atmosphere:
Staff:
The Berlin Baking Company:
N/A, not open yet
Whimsy:
N/A, absolutely special restaurant. You have to reserve well in advance on www.whimsy.com
Executive Lounge:
Drinks & Snacks:
Atmosphere:
Staff:
Paul‘s Mix:
Pool, Spa:
Hotel Location:
Mojito Rating 
:
:
General Customer Care:
Staff attitude, interaction and responsiveness:
Social media interaction:
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
=not good, you will be busy with corrections
= good & normal, nothing special
= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here!
= Half a Point/sheep
—-
First and foremost: Please note, that we do rate and review the Hotels on our personal experience during our stay.
We have stayed at the Hotel Berlin Central District before. The last time, in November 2021 we had such a bad experience at the Front desk, that we checked out immediately again (See last
review).
So now, 12 months later, we are back to see what has changed. The Hotel will finally and definitely transition on January 3rd, 2023 (With a year delay) to be the JW Marriott Berlin and on
January 9th it is the “opening” party.
During our stay we have met a lot of staff and management and have been able to talk to them.
The hotel has still some way to go, as they need to work on consistency, training some staff and change the rest of the hardware.
So here our personal review based on our experience during our 6 nights stay this time.
General Info:
The Hotel Berlin Central District is in Berlin Mitte in the Embassies district.
There is unfortunately no urban life, bars or restaurants in close vicinity of the property.
It takes around 10-15 minutes to walk to get to the Potsdamer Platz and around a 20minute walk to Brandenburg Gate. The next convenient public transport station is a 15minute walk away and it
is the S-Bahn station at Potsdamer Platz.
Therefore, we rate the location as a so-so location for Berlin. If you have a car, there is no issue to get around and the hotel has a massive underground parking.
If you get here for a weekend getaway and need the public transport, then there are better choices in town. Otherwise, you must get around with taxis or Uber.
The Hotel Berlin Central District was rated as a 4-star property and had to be brought up to a 5-star JW Marriott Hotel.
The rooms & suites are spread over 6 massive floors and the tower wing is 10 storeys high.
The property has 467 rooms and 38 suites and a whopping 18 meeting/banquet rooms with the biggest one for a total of 2300 guests.
Check-in:
The check-in was absolutely perfect. Top notch service from the first second.
We arrived with the car and came up to the lobby level with the elevator. The new front office is now located on the right-hand side of the hallway when you enter the hotel.
The front office / guest relations agent was coming to the front of the Check-in desk to welcome and greet us. She was super welcoming and there was a huge smile behind the mask. She welcomed
us back to the property, asked how the journey was and brought us through the check-in process with a breeze. Lots of small talk during the check-in process and it really felt like coming
back home. Every single procedure and touchpoint were taken care of with perfection.
Also the other 2 agents who were present were super friendly and helpful.
Check-out:
Check-out was great. The agent interacted with the guests, was super attentive and made sure everything was okay
She really took the time to chat and didn't make you feel like a number.
Frontoffice:
All staff at the front desk which we met during the entire stay were simply awesome. They offered a top notch customer service with an attention to detail like I have seldom seen in Europe.
They were always friendly and helpful. If the time and workload permit, they always interacted when passing by the front desk and always took the time to talk.
The new front desk team is an amazing team and really takes great care of the customers. This team has made the biggest step ahead and is definitely well prepared and ready to be the new JW Marriott Berlin. The new Front Office Manager Mrs. R herself is amazing and she did a great job to lead the new team to such a level. The guest relations agents do a perfect job and Mrs. K does it with such love, passion and pride that you feel treated like royalty.
Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite recognition:
Thanks to our Ambassador Status with the Marriott Bonvoy program, we were upgraded from a Classic King room to one of their new Executive Suites.
The lounge is fully open from 6AM to 11 PM. It offers soft drinks, coffee, tea and snacks during the entire day and happy hour is from 5PM until 10 PM. The lounge is not open for breakfast, so we were allowed to have breakfast at the Market restaurant and choose the welcome gift of either points or F&B credit. We did choose the points for this stay.
There was a nice handwritten card in the room together with a delicious cake.
Also, in general the recognition is very good at the property.
Eligible nights and points:
Eligible nights, eligible revenue and points were posted 24 hours after our stay and completely correct as per folio.
Concierge:
No official concierge yet as Hotel Berlin Central district. They do have a concierge now which will be officially implemented with the JW Brand.
Management / Leadership Team:
We were able to talk to a lot of staff and management members. As well as the GM. The staff is eager to go finally the next step and to become the JW Marriott Berlin on Tuesday. Leading
positions are working hard for the transformation but some of them do forget to take and motivate the team.
The GM Mr. G. was the perfect fit for the transition from Maritim to the JW Marriott. We had twice some lengthy talks with him during our stay.
He is completely the hands-on type, doesn't shy away from conflict and goes straight out to achieve what he wants.
We personally found him to be very direct and quite confident in himself. This was and is perfect for the transition of the hotel, but I personally think this is not the right way for a
smooth operation afterwards.
A GM for this house needs to be calm, have serenity and must radiate sovereignty.
Mr. G is the perfect operations manager but not a tangible host.
Unfortunately, some Marriott principles do not count with this GM, since the focus on the employees has been completely lost. He just wants to shine as a person, not as a team.
We have never seen him talking or interacting with his staff. You could see him walking around in the morning but he would not greet "his" employees.
As our last night was the night from 31st December to 1st of January we thought that the higher Leadership Team or the GM would be present in the hotel. But beside the duty manager and some department leaders there was none present, and I can tell you that even I as guest felt bad for the staff because this shows the NOT existent recognition of the staff. Sorry to say but on such important nights and in a 5 star property the Leadership Team and the GM has to be present. It is not a Moxy, it is a JW Marriott and also guests expect them to be present.
Room / Suite:
As said above, we were lucky to be upgraded to one of the new Executive Suites on the 6th floor.
The entire 6th floor has been renovated and looks amazing compared to the old “Maritim” rooms. Unfortunately, the 6th floor is the only floor which has been updated yet and so the hotel only offers a rough 20% of updated / renovated rooms and 80% of the rooms are still in the old Maritim design and look. A bad ratio for an opening as a JW Marriott hotel.
I am talking of updated / renovated rooms because a lot has just been worked up instead of being exchanged. The rooms on the 6th floor have gotten new floors, new wall papers, new curtains,
and new “movable” furniture. All the wooden work such as cabinets, nightstands, built ins, headboards of the bed, vanity cabinets etc. have just been painted in white and have not been
renovated.
Apparently going forward that room design will not be continued with the other floors.
As I said before, the updated/renovated suite looks simply amazing. It is a huge improvement over the old Maritim style and its definitely JW Marriott style.
The suite consists of two rooms. There is a big living room and a big bedroom and then there is a small day toilet next to the living room which is also the access to the official bathroom. From the bedroom you are also able to access the bathroom.
Both rooms have massive windows and with the new color scheme the rooms are bright and light. The new tiled floor in both rooms looks amazing but it is a challenge for house keeping, keeping
those glossy tiles clean.
The living room has a small dining table with 3 chairs, a beautiful sitting area with a couch and chair and a desk with an office chair and a built-in closet.
The bedroom has a king size bed, a built-in closet, a desk and chair and a huge flat screen.
The mattresses of the king size bed are simply amazing. For me, the perfect fit in degree of hardness. The bedding itself wasn’t great. I have to admit, that we still had the old bedding and
not the JW bedding.
The duvet we had was rather stiff and to small and the pillows seemed to be filled with air. Once you were laying on them it was flat as a board, and you couldn’t feel any difference.
Bathroom:
The bathroom is huge in size. It consists of a double vanity, a big bathtub, and a shower. Also here all the floor tiles were exchanged and all the rest just worked up.
The day toilet with a sink can be accessed from the living room and from the bathroom.
Housekeeping:
Housekeeping does a great job. The room was cleaned properly, and the bed was done perfect and impeccable.
All areas were super clean and when we passed the housekeeping team in the corridor, they were super friendly, greeting and smiling.
Unfortunately, they have some inconsistency in the housekeeping as well.
On the first 3 nights, there was always a small treat on the nightstand such as some chocolate, little cake or praline. From night 4 to 6, there were no such treats.
On night 1 to 4 there was a turn down service, no turn down service on night 5 and 6. They only came on the last night after having asked if they have forgotten our room.
These are only small things, and I couldn’t care less if they are done or not but if they do, they need to be consistent.
F&B outlets/ Lounge:
JW Steakhouse:
The Steakhouse is the specialty restaurant of the property as well as the only real restaurant the hotel offers.
We had twice dinner at the JW Steakhouse.
The service was always impeccable, and the staff was super attentive, friendly and offered an excellent service.
The food was also very delicious, fresh and tasty. Small issues were taken care of immediately by the staff and handled with care.
Whimsy:
Whimsy is a super special restaurant and unfortunately, we were not able to try it. You have to book it well in advance on the website www.whimsy.com.
We are going to try it on our next visit.
The Berlin Baking Company:
Not opened yet. It is a typical coffee/bakery outlet and it willl be opened with the official transition to the JW Marriott Berlin Hotel.
BAR26:
Bar26 is the official hotel bar located on the ground floor.
It is a typical hotel bar. The staff on all nights were super amazing, super friendly and the lady which was there almost every night, did one of the best mojitos we had in ages.
Unfortunately the cocktails made of her colleague were far not as good as hers.
They took care of the guests and were chatty with them. Exactly what you need in a bar.
The bar for our taste is way to dark. It is almost a dark room.
Lobby Lounge Bar:
Not yet open, will be opened as JW on January 3rd.
Cigar Lounge:
Not yet officially opened but you can use the facility to sit. An absolutely stunning lounge with a fireplace, lots of wing chairs, cigars, whiskey and cognac and a super cozy atmosphere.
Once it is officially opened, I will definitely try it out.
The Market
The Market is the restaurant on the first floor, and it is mainly used for breakfast. In our old reviews we have mentioned that the whole room reminds us of a cruise ship. So far, they were
able to defuse the cruise ship feeling in the room a little bit.
The breakfast buffet itself was simply stunning. I would go that far and say it is one of the best breakfast buffets I have seen in Europe.
It is simply wowww. It is massive in size; it offers everything you can dram an think off. The products are super fresh, tasty and the buffet is done with lots of love. The chefs are super attentive and friendly, and they offer to prepare you any egg dish you like or waffles your taste.
But…..
The service and waiting staff ranges from absolutely stunning to Maritim/Deutsche Bahn dining car charm.
Let me try to rate the service levels we experience during our stay:
Morning 1: 100% Customer Service / Service Level
Mr. B had the lead in the restaurant together with 2 very friendly and charming ladies. They were offering a phantastic service and took care of every single customer. Either someone from the
team or Mr. B himself were always around and they were rotating in the restaurant, working hand in hand and helping each other. They always asked if they could bring anything else or if we
wanted an additional coffee.
Absolutely fantastic atmosphere. We were positively surprised, as the staff in the old days (see older reviews) were a disaster.
Morning 2: 120% Customer Service / Service Level
Same Team as the day before. Same phantastic teamwork, always a step ahead of the customer, super friendly and helpful. They already knew the coffee preference and just brought it to our
table. They interacted with the guests, delivered a top-notch service and the atmosphere was great.
Morning 3: 150% Customer Service / Service Level
Same Team again as the previous two days. No more words needed, just a smile and the response were “we will bring two Latte to your table”. Super amazing service, personal touch, simply wow
and we thought wowww they have made it.
Whilst leaving the restaurant, Mr. B told us, that he will be on late shift as of the next day, thanked us for staying with them and wished us a great remaining stay at the property.
Morning 4: 50% Customer Service / Service Level
Wowww, what a change. No restaurant lead present at the restaurant. There was only a waitress from the JW Team or better said the old Maritim team, a temporary staff from JW and 2 temporary
workers of an employment agency.
The Maritim waitress had the charm of a Deutsche Bahn Dining Car attendant. Yes, she did greet, and she did offer a coffee but that was basically it. The temporary staff was walking around
with the hands on her back like a prison guard and walked up and down the restaurant. No more atmosphere like the days before, no more teamwork. The Maritim waitress was shooeing the 2
temporary workers of the employment agency around. Very unfriendly and very unprofessional. She was cold, cold hearted and she simply did her job with no passion.
So I asked the grumpy waitress who would be the restaurant lead today and she showed me the temporary staff. She asked why and I said I would like to give feedback on the unprofessional
service compared to the last 3 mornings. Before leaving I went to the staff she pointed out and the poor lady told me that she is just a temporary worker. So the Maritim Waitress lied into my
face and she even blackmailed her colleague. The temporary staff told me that the restaurant lead is not around. When we left the restaurant, he showed up and we gave him the feedback.
Unfortunately, he could not have cared less. The DB waitress was actually telling him what to do and you could clearly see who was unofficially in charge.
Morning 5: 25% Customer Service / Service Level
Again, the no show Restaurant Leader would have been on duty together with the DB waitress. Today was no more service at all! None of the customers who arrived with us where asked if they
would like to have a coffee. Customers had to get their coffee by themselves. No more clearing of tables. Waiting staff was not present.
There was one scene at the end of our breakfast where two German couples in their 50´s arrived, the typical Maritim customers. The DB waitress face lighted up and these customers were the
only ones which were asked what coffee they would like to have. And you should have seen how brave the waitress looked when she could bring a thermos coffee pot with filter coffee to their
table. She was back in the good old Maritim Heaven.
Morning 6: 50% Customer Service / Service Level
The no show restaurant leader would have been on duty today together with the DB style waitress. Apparently the feedbacks over the last two days have fruited as the DB waitress finally made
it to talk to the guests. Today we were asked again what kind of coffee we would like to have for breakfast.
No atmosphere at all.
Executive Lounge:
The lounge is now located on the first floor, right next to the market restaurant. The lounge is open from 6 AM to 11 PM and offers soft drinks, coffee, tea and nibbles the entire day. From
5PM to 10PM is the official cocktail time. The hotel serves red and white wine and to different beers. They do have a very nice buffet with different cold snacks, salads and always 3 hot
items available.
The lounge itself is in an old meeting room but very well equipped with tables and chairs. Not like other hotels (Sheraton Stockholm). The room only offers 28 seating options and is really
small for the hotel with so many rooms and lounge entry entitled guests.
During the day the lounge can only be accessed with the key card. Unfortunately, no access control during the evening and I think not all guests in the lounge would actually be entitled to
it.
During the first 5 days we had Caroline as our lounge attendant. She was simply amazing and superb. The customer service she offered was top and she was connecting with the guests. She always
had the overview of the lounge. She is simply the perfect fit for this position.
On the last night Caroline had off and the lounge ended in a disaster. The first agent who set up the buffet was actually yelling at people that she would announce when the buffet is open.
After that, she was gone and a poor helpless apprentice took over. Well, it ended that people were asking for Caroline.
Buffet wasn’t replenished, soft drinks were gone and not refilled for hours, and no tables were cleared.
Pool / Spa:
Apparently, the pool has been renovated during the last couple of month. This area needs a lot of love and attention. It is far far from a JW Marriott pool and spa. The rooms have a very cold
atmosphere, there is no color or anything green.
The pool and spa area is so carelessly furnished and designed, you do not feel like you want to lay or relax there.
There would be a massage room available, but no massages offered yet and I do not know if it is planned to offer them as a JW Marriott spa.
Social Media:
Social media is very good for a European Hotel. They are very active especially on Instagram, not so active on Facebook. Lots of posts from themselves and they do also interact on social
media. They do write comments to postings and are very fast in the correspondence.
Summary:
A very good stay with some minor bumps. The Hotel and especially the staff have come a long way over the last 12 month. The transformation is fantastic, and they are on the right path.
Some departments are already on top notch level whilst others did only a baby step from Maritim.
Consistency is something they need to work on throughout the house.
The public areas have all been renovated, newly built and adapted to the JW Marriott brand.
The rooms unfortunately aren’t ready yet and I don’t know, if it is a good Idea to already transition if only around 20% of the rooms are renovated and 80% are the old ugly ducklings from Maritim. It will cost the front office a lot of discussions and it will take for sure another 2 years until all rooms are remodeled.
We will definitely go back as we felt home away from home. Had fantastic interactions with the staff and because we want to see the further progress they are making.
Notes:
- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.
- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.
-If you are interested in more details, please send us a private message and I will be happy to share more information and pictures.